Longevity is an elusive commodity when it comes to music groups. Seven years is often cited as the average life of a band, though some claim two years is closer to the truth. Even bands that change personnel do not typically stay together for the long haul. Changing trends, financial strain, personal conflicts, creative differences, and the intense pressure of constant togetherness eventually will cause the downfall of even the best groups.
So the fact that the Bluz House Rockers have been making music together in New York’s Capital District and beyond for 31 years is no small achievement. They are seven veteran musicians from upstate New York, six of whom sing lead and harmonies. Several have been inducted into the NYS Blues Hall of Fame. The current lineup has been together for a number of years now and features Trish Anderson on vocals, Tony Perrino and Matt Donnelly on keyboards, Rick Rourke on sax, Denny Dwyer on guitar, Chris Peck on bass, and drummer Jeff Prescott.
I spoke to Trish, Tony, and band manager Jim Anderson about the longevity of BHR, among other things.
Jim said, “I think that, first of all, there’s the respect that each one in the band has for the other members. I think when everybody shows up to play they want to be at their peak.”
“We started out at Park West,” Trish said. Park West was a club in Clifton Park, NY, just north of Albany.
“There’s been a bunch of different lineups,” Jim added. “But I think that the current lineup, which has been together for a long time, is the best lineup we’ve ever had. And we just keep getting better, even though we’re getting older.”
Reflecting for a moment Jim went on, “The fact that at this age, we’re still able to go on stage and perform at a high level and give our all is celebration of our individual careers to do this together at this time.”
Given their age, their day jobs, and the fact they have been playing together for so many years, do they still practice?
“We practice,” Trish said emphatically, drawing some laughter from Jim and Tony. “If it wasn’t for Tony, I wouldn’t be doing as well as I have. He’s an amazing musical director of the band, and just keeps us going, you know, being good each time we play out.”
“I try to just help facilitate everybody,” Tony says, somewhat modestly. “I have my studio here where I am, and so it makes it a nice, easy pre-setup thing. We all just love being together. It’s like a family. Everybody loves to come up here and get our rehearsals in and feel sharp for the gigs. So it’s not any kind of, like, a pressure situation, you know.”
Over their lengthy career, BHR has played in such venues as Turning Stone Casino, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and Albany’s First Night celebrations. They have also played at the Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den in Connecticut. For many years they were among the bands playing Delbert McClinton’s Sandy Beaches Cruise in the Caribbean.
Trish recalled the time BHR opened for Pat Benatar at Albany’s Empire State Plaza with over 30,000 in attendance. “Of course, it was an honor to open for her, and she was amazing. But the funny thing about it was (the local paper’s entertainment editor) wrote a review of the show. There were two paragraphs about how good Blues House was and there was a paragraph (saying) Pat Benatar was not so good. But in reality, she was great. Oh, she was great!”
Tony remembered when bandmate Rick Rourke was organizing one of the late night jam sessions on a Delbert McClinton Cruise. Members of the other acts on the cruise could always join in without formality. Cruise passengers on the other hand had to register on sign-up sheet and wait their turn. Famed session drummer Russ Kunkel showed up to join in and Rick, who did not recognize Russ, told him to sign up and wait his turn.
Tony enlightened Rick who immediately apologized to Russ and asked him to join in. Was Russ offended? “Oh, not at all! No, we had a big laugh over it,” said Tony.
BHR put out a self-titled album in 2002. The first track, “Three Dollar Bill,” went to number two on the pop charts in Denmark.
As Jim tells it, “We got this email from a radio station in Denmark and basically showing us the top 10 songs on their equivalent of the Billboard Top 100. And there we are at number 2, and at number 3 was the Rolling Stones.
“In Europe, they have big festivals all the time in the summer, and they wanted us to come play at these festivals. The problem at the time, early on in our career with Blue’s House, was that everybody had a day job. And nobody could take two weeks off and hang out in Denmark.”
The album Bluz House Rockers did not get radio play in the States. More’s the shame because it contained several other good songs like “Dinner At My House,” “Don’t Call,” and “Show Me.”
“We didn’t have a label,” Jim said. “You know, we self-produced the CD, and we didn’t have a company behind us pushing the product.” This was before independent artists could make their recordings via CD Baby and streaming platforms.
But that may change soon. Trish and Tony are at work revamping songs from the original album. According to Trish, “We’re trying to change the beat a little bit. We’re going to put them out in a different way, you know, less 80 sounding and more now sounding.”
Tony adds, “More standard-style jazz that features her as the singer. And Rick (Rourke) produced it with Trish and myself. So we’ve got a few that are different, too, that are very good.”
Some may dismiss the Bluz House Rockers as merely a cover band playing popular music. It is a label they don’t try to deny. If anything, they embrace it. And after all, isn’t popular music built on the foundation of traditional roots music?
Bluz House Rockers Tour Schedule:
Friday, July 18 (6:00–7:10 p.m.) — Shepard Park, Lake George
Sunday, July 20 (4:00–7:00 p.m.) — Carson’s Woodside Tavern, Route 9P, Malta, NY
Saturday, July 26 (6:00–9:00 p.m.) — Wood Park, Hoosick Falls, NY
Sunday, July 27 (1:00–5:00 p.m.) — Saratoga Race Track Gazebo, Saratoga, NY
Thursday, July 31 (5:00–9:00 p.m.) — Vice and Virtue, 40 N. Broadway, Schenectady, NY
Saturday, August 16 (5:00–6:30 p.m.) — Fairways at Halfmoon, Mechanicville, NY
Saturday, August 30 (6:00–9:00 p.m.) — Carson’s Woodside Tavern, Route 9P, Malta, NY
